


those who believe in magic

by kaggleyama



Series: Urban fantasy AU [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, Magic, Urban Fantasy, Witches, how do I summary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-05-18 20:06:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5941390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaggleyama/pseuds/kaggleyama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ushijima has to get a curse lifted. Hinata and Tsukishima take full advantage of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	those who believe in magic

**Author's Note:**

> this was for an anon on [tumblr](http://tsuk-kei.tumblr.com/post/138862710065/ushitsukkihina-urban-fantasy) and i may, maybe, in some way, have had way too much fun with it

When Tendou told him of a place he could go to get his curse lifted, Ushijima had been expecting something other than a dingy apartment at the edge of the city. He’d always imagined a witch’s workplace to be mysterious and magical, but this building is the exact opposite. It’s made entirely of gray bricks, weeds sprouting from cracks in the street out front. The door is painted a garish shade of orange, but the paint is peeling off to reveal more gray underneath. 

Ushijima looks around uncertainly, wondering if he maybe got the address wrong, but all the other buildings look just as run-down as this one. He’s considering turning around and going back when the door swings open, seemingly by itself. Curious, Ushijima peeks inside, but he sees nothing except an empty hallway. There are gray doors on both sides of him and stairs directly in front. He wonders if either of those doors have a magical workshop behind them. 

“Hello?” He calls, stepping inside. The door falls shut behind him, and Ushijima starts at the noise. He whirls around and, fearing he might be locked inside, rips the door back open. It goes without a problem. He lets out an involuntary sigh of relief, shoulders slumping. 

Soft laughter sounds from behind him, drifting through the dusty air. It’s clear as a bell, with a faintly musical undertone, but it makes the hairs on the back of Ushijima’s neck stand on edge. He turns around slowly and looks up at the figure standing at the top of the stairs. There is a window right behind the figure, so he has to squint against the light for a moment before his eyes adjust and he can finally see clearly. 

The figure at the top of the stairs is a man, all long limbs and graceful movements. Sunlight filters in through the window, lighting his hair up into shades of silver and pale gold. His face is mostly hidden by shadow, but Ushijima can still see one corner of his mouth pulled up into a smirk. 

Entranced, Ushijima moves closer until he can see his face. There is something ethereal about its beauty, though maybe that’s just the influence of his surroundings. But then Ushijima notices his eyes. They’re a shade of gold that just doesn’t appear naturally in humans. 

“Don’t tell me you were actually scared by a cheap parlor trick like that?” The man – creature? – scoffs, sending a haughty look down his nose at Ushijima. “Pathetic.”

“Of course not,” Ushijima lies. If the widening of the man’s smirk is any indication, he wasn’t very believable. 

“Sure you weren’t,” the man drawls. Then he sighs and looks of to the side, seemingly dismissing Ushijima as unimportant. “The place you’re looking for is up here. Follow me.” He doesn’t wait for a response before he walks off. 

For a moment, Ushijima considers staying where he is. He has no real desire to go anywhere with this rude person, no matter how pretty they may be, but he also has nowhere else to go. Reluctantly, he follows the man up the stairs until he comes to a halt in front of a door on the second floor. Unlike the other doors, this one is painted black. It has a wooden board stuck to it that says _Karasuno Witches_ in large, messy handwriting. Beneath that, smaller and more neat, it says _open from 16.00 to 22.00_.

The man places a hand against the door and it opens without any resistance. A cloud of smoke billows out, smelling of oranges and something else Ushijima can’t quite make out. After the smoke has cleared a little, the man steps inside, gesturing for Ushijima to follow.

Whereas the rest of the building was plain and boring, the apartment Ushijima steps into is anything but. The place is a mess . Objects ranging from things as normal as books and pieces of paper to what looks to be the jawbone of some kind of animal – teeth still attached – lie scattered around. A couple of shelves line the walls, equally as cluttered. One shelf is dedicated to nothing but jars, labeled in a messy scrawl that Ushijima can’t read no matter how hard he tries. Plants hang from the ceiling on hooks to dry, low enough that he has to duck to avoid being hit in the head by them.

The furniture is a collection of mismatched pieces, all different colors. There is a wooden table with a pile of books on it, a laptop balanced precariously on top. It has five chairs around it, each different from the other. A dark green couch is pushed into a corner, no doubt to make room for the gigantic pot in the middle of the room. It’s a large, black thing, standing in the middle of some kind of pentagram. A fire burns underneath it, but it is floating above the ground and doesn’t seem to have any kind of fuel source. 

From behind the pot a man appears, wearing a large, floppy witch’s hat. A few strands of orange hair peek out from underneath it, framing glittering eyes that light up even more when he sees the man who led Ushijima to the apartment. He waves his hand at the pot and everything just – freezes. The smoke stops billowing, the fire stops crackling, and even the dust floating in the air around it stills in place. 

The witch takes a look at Ushijima and pushes his lip out in a pout. “Why do they always have to be so tall?” he mutters, seemingly to himself. Then he smiles one of the most blinding smiles Ushijima has ever seen and says, “Hello! I’m Hinata Shouyou, famous witch of Karasuno.” The other man laughs at this, stifling it behind his hand when Hinata narrows his eyes at him. “That over there is Tsukishima Kei.”

“I can introduce myself,” Tsukishima breaks in. 

“I know,” Hinata says, in the sort of reassuring tone one would normally use when talking to an upset toddler. Tsukishima doesn’t appreciate it, if the tightening of his jaw is any indication. “But you didn’t.”

Tsukishima scowls down at him. “I told you not to listen in on other peoples conversations. It’s creepy, not to mention invasive.”

“I don’t have to eavesdrop to know you won’t introduce yourself,” Hinata rolls his eyes. He walks over to Tsukishima and bumps their arms together. “I just know you too well.”

Tsukishima clicks his tongue, but doesn’t seem to have a retort for that. He reaches up to grab Hinata’s hat from his head, while his other hand comes up to ruffle his hair in a movement so natural Ushijima doubts he even realizes he’s doing it. “I’ve told you before not to wear this stupid thing.”

Hinata takes his hat back from Tsukishima and dances away in one fluid movement. He puts it back on and sticks his tongue out. “You’re just jealous you don’t have a cool hat like I do.”

As amusing as their teasing may be to watch, Ushijima decides to put a stop to it before it can go any further. He’s here for a reason, after all. “Excuse me,” he breaks in, and is immediately rewarded when Hinata gasps and turns to him with wide eyes. 

“I’m so sorry! I’ve been completely ignoring you, even though your curse is pretty serious—”

Ushijima blinks in confusion. He hasn’t said anything about his curse yet. It might be that witches can just tell, but with how Tsukishima stiffens up in surprise that doesn’t seem likely. “How did you know I was cursed?” he asks, curious. 

“Oh, that? It’s a little hard to explain.” Hinata drums his fingers on his leg while he thinks. “I guess I just sort of feel it? Every spell has its own feel to it, and curses are usually especially nasty.”

“Impressive,” Ushijima says. 

Hinata waves his praise away, but he’s blushing. It’s kind of cute. “Not really. All witches can do it.”

Ushijima glances at Tsukishima, who is looking more annoyed with every second that passes. “Then…”

“Oh,” Hinata catches the subtle movement and smiles knowingly. Tsukishima’s scowl deepens. “Tsukishima isn’t a witch. He’s a Faerie. Or, well, a quarter Faerie.”

“Sidhe,” Tsukishima snaps, pronouncing it as _she_. Ushijima almost mistakes the word for a sneeze. “The Sidhe aren’t just any kind of Fae. We’re _nobility_ —”

“Yeah, yeah,” Hinata waves him off. He leans close to Ushijima, voice lowering. “He’s really stingy about this subject. Just let him rant for a while and he’ll eventually calm down.” 

“I heard that,” Tsukishima says. “And I’ll have you know that I’m still better at magic than you, even though I don’t have as much of it.”

“Stingy-shima,” Hinata mutters, wilting a little before straightening back up and clapping his hands together. “Anyway! Tell me a bit more about your curse, and I’ll see what I can do to lift it.” He drops down into one of the chairs at the table, gesturing for Ushijima to do the same. He does, careful not to disturb the pile of books for fear he might cause it to fall over. 

“I’m not really sure where to start,” he admits. His hands are sweaty. He rubs them on his jeans in an attempt to dry them. 

“At the beginning, obviously.” 

Startled, Ushijima whips around. He hadn’t noticed Tsukishima move to stand behind him, but he’s there now. He leans against the wall, looking completely at ease. One ankle is hooked over the other, long legs slightly bent. The expression on his face reminds Ushijima of a scientist observing a particularly interesting specimen.

“Alright.” Ushijima swallows. He turns back around, but Tsukishima’s gaze directed at the back of his head sends tingles down his spine. “The beginning.”

“Hey.” Hinata smiles at him, placing a hand on his knee. Heat spreads out from his touch. It relaxes Ushijima, comforting him. He’s half convinced there’s magic involved. “You don’t have to be so nervous. Nobody here is going to judge you.”

“I might judge you a little, if it turns out you’re really stupid,” Tsukishima chimes in. Hinata glares at him. 

Feeling a little more at ease with Hinata’s hand on his knee, Ushijima nods and does his best to explain the situation. “A few weeks ago, a friend of mine found this spell book. He kept bugging me to help him try a spell,” he says, recalling the pout on Tendou’s face. “I tried to tell him it was useless – he’s not a witch, so he can’t do magic. But eventually—”

“Wait,” Hinata interrupts, frowning. “He’s not a witch? Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure,” Ushijima says. “None of his parents are witches, at least.”

“The magic could have just skipped a generation,” Hinata murmurs, more to himself than Ushijima. “I mean, it’s true that non-magic people can perform simple spells, but this curse is the real deal. He has to have at least some magical heritage.”

“Um. Okay?” Ushijima can’t imagine Tendou as a witch. He’s known him most of his life. If Tendou had magic, wouldn’t he have known?

Tsukishima sighs loudly, pulling Ushijima from his thoughts. “Just ignore him. Continue.”

“Right. Eventually, he tried some spells and one of them worked. I’m not really sure what it did.” Ushijima rubs at his arms, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. More heat spreads out from Hinata’s fingers, but this time it does little to relax him. Hinata frowns at pulls his hand away, looking down at it with a furrowed brow. “Tendou didn’t want to tell me. He just said it’s not good.”

“I could tell that much,” Hinata says.

“So can you fix it?” Ushijima asks. He has no idea what he’ll do if the answer is no. 

Hinata leans back in his seat and sighs. “Well, that’s the thing. I’m not really sure.” He drags a hand over his face, staring at the ceiling like it holds all the answers. “That curse isn’t exactly weak, but it’s not that strong either. I should be able to break it easily, _if_ I knew what it was. Breaking curses becomes a lot more difficult when I have no idea what kind of curse it is.”

“You can still break it,” Tsukishima speaks up. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be with a counter-curse. A purification ritual should be enough. You might even manage to get by with nothing more than a blessing.”

Hinata shakes his head. “Like I said, this curse is the real deal. A blessing isn’t powerful enough, it won’t work. At best, it’ll just lessen the effects a little. A purification ritual is a good idea, though it’d have to be a powerful one.” He grabs the laptop from the top of the stack of books, balancing it on one hand and using the other to type. Eventually the second hand joins the first, leaving the laptop suspended in mid-air. 

“Would your grandmother’s ritual work?” Tsukishima comes over to look at the screen of the laptop over Hinata’s shoulder. His steps are completely silent, without so much as the rustle of clothing to be heard. 

“I don’t think so. Nanna’s ritual is definitely powerful, but it’s not meant for curses.” Hinata doesn’t look away from the screen while he talks. “There might be something in her grimoire, though.”

“I’ll check,” Tsukishima says and waves his hand. A book floats into it from the other side of the room. He starts flipping through the pages with such speed he can’t possibly be reading all of them. After a while he seems to find something, because he shoves the book in front of Hinata’s face to get him to look at it. 

“Oh! That’s a good one,” Hinata says, face lit up with enthusiasm. “Definitely better than anything I’ve found so far.”

“It takes a lot of focus, though. Raw power won’t cut it here.”

“I’ve told you before,” Hinata says. He grabs the book from Tsukishima’s hand to take a better look at it. “I can handle the subtle stuff. When have I ever messed up a spell before?” He looks up and grimaces, ducking out from between the laptop and Tsukishima. “Don’t answer that.”

Tsukishima rolls his eyes, but stays quiet. He takes a hold of the laptop and puts it back on top of the tower of books, eyes following Hinata as he moves around the room, picking up various things. 

“If it makes you feel better, I can always use his full name as an invocation. It won’t really do much, since he’s already here, but it’ll make things a bit easier for me. Speaking of,” Hinata whirls around, pointing a finger at Ushijima. “What’s your name?”

“Ushijima Wakatoshi,” Ushijima answers, a little surprised at suddenly being addressed. He’d started to think he’d been forgotten about. 

Hinata nods solemnly. “Ushijima Wakatoshi. That’s a nice name.”

“Thank you,” Ushijima offers hesitantly, but it seems like Hinata isn’t listening anymore. He’s gone back to gathering things presumably needed for the ritual. Ushijima looks at Tsukishima, who just clicks his tongue. It seems he’s already gotten used to Hinata’s eccentricities. 

After a while, Hinata comes to a halt. A large pile of things are held in his arms, and a few more that don’t fit floating in the air around him. “Alright, that should be most of it. Now all I need is…” He trails off and looks at the pot he was using when Ushijima came in with wide eyes. “Oh. Oh, no.”

“What _now_?” Tsukishima asks, with the air of someone who has had to clean up Hinata’s messes one too many times.

“I’m out of conduits,” Hinata answers, smiling sheepishly. 

Tsukishima pinches the bridge of his nose and lets out a long suffering sigh. “Weren’t you going to make more?”

“What did you think the potion was for?” Hinata gestures wildly at the pot behind him, knocking his hat a little askew. Some things tumble from the pile in his arms and join the others in floating around him. “I’m making new ones, but it’ll take at least another day.”

Tense silence hangs in the air between the two magical beings. For a moment, Ushijima fears they’re going to send him away without helping him, but then Tsukishima snaps, “Fine. You can use me as a conduit.”

Hinata’s face lights up, lips pulling into a smile and eyes opening wide. “Really? You’d do that?”

“We have to break this curse, right?” Tsukishima mutters. “Then it’s fine. Just start setting up the ritual.” He grabs a few vine-like plants from the hooks on the ceiling and starts wrapping them around his arms.

“Ah, wait.” Hinata’s smile turns sheepish again. “We probably have to set a price first.”

“I’ll pay as much money as you want,” Ushijima says. He’s getting desperate now. If Hinata doesn’t remove his curse, he has no idea who will.

Tsukishima scoffs loudly. Little white flowers are starting to sprout from the plants he has wrapped around his arms. “You don’t pay witches with money. Don’t you know that?”

Ushijima didn’t. It’s not like he knows any witches who could have told him. “Then what do I pay with?”

“Power,” Tsukishima says simply, before going back to twisting another vine into some kind of crown. 

“What he means,” Hinata interjects. “Is that to a witch, things like emotions or memories are much more valuable than money, so we take that as payment instead. You could pay in a tear, or a precious childhood memory, or something else, depending on what you’re paying for.”

“Don’t you need money, though?” Ushijima asks. He can’t imagine anyone surviving without money. How else do they get food, or pay for this apartment?

“Well, yeah, but I have an actual job for that,” Hinata says. “Anyway, a purification ritual like this is a pretty big deal, so it’ll be pretty expensive. A strong emotion, or something similar.” He shares a look with Tsukishima, who smirks in response.

“What kind of emotion?” Ushijima asks, feeling a little uneasy. 

Hinata hums a little. A devious glint appears in his eyes. “Love would be best, but lust will be good as well.”

“Either way,” Tsukishima adds, smirking. “You’ll be paying with a kiss.”

“Two actually,” Hinata says. “Since Tsukishima is going to help, you’ll have to pay him as well.”

Ushijima hesitates only for a moment. He feels a little apprehensive at kissing two men he barely knows, but he’s desperate. Besides, they’re good looking enough, so he isn’t entirely opposed to it. “Alright,” he agrees, trying not to let his nervousness show. Maybe Hinata will use that same trick he used earlier to put him at ease when they’re kissing.

“Great.” Hinata clasps his hands together. All the things he was holding are floating around him now. He grabs a broom and a sharpie and starts clearing a large area in the middle of the room. The pot moves to the side with a wave of his hand, still completely frozen in time. “Now that that’s settled, we can get started.” He uses to broom to sweep the floor, then gestures at the middle of the room. “Stand here,” he says to Ushijima.

Once Ushijima is in position, Hinata draws a circle with some kind of intricate pattern in it around him. He sets white candles at each of the cardinal points, lighting them with a snap of his fingers and sticking them to the floor with a little bit of wax. 

“Waste of magic,” Tsukishima mutters, but there is no malice in his voice. “You could have just used a match.”

Hinata ignores him, choosing instead to focus on the symbols he is drawing on his hands and arms in red paint. He pulls on a white robe, the fabric thin enough that the symbols are still clearly visible beneath it. Lastly, he sprinkles some shiny silver powder at the edge of the circle. 

“Before we start the ritual I’m going to invoke your name. It’s kind of like a summoning,” he explains. “So, it might feel a little weird, but don’t be alarmed. What’s important is that you can’t move from the middle of the circle. If the lines get smudged, we have to start all over again. If we’re lucky, that’s all that happens.”

Ushijima nods his understanding. He’s starting to feel uneasy again, with the little witch so serious. 

“Alright. Are you ready?”

“Yes,” Ushijima says, swallowing down any hesitation. He can feel the curse like a heavy weight on his shoulders. This has to happen now, or he’ll never be rid of it.

“Then I’m going to start.” Hinata closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He says Ushijima’s name, repeating it three times. After the third time, Ushijima feels a heavy tug at his stomach, drawing him towards Hinata. He only barely manages to resist the pull and stay where he is. After a few moments, the feeling dies down to a tingle. 

When Hinata opens his eyes, they’re shining even more than before. It’s like they’re filled with entire constellations of stars, glittering and beautiful. “I can feel the curse now,” he breathes. “I should be able to break it.” He beckons Tsukishima, who comes over to stand next to him. Hinata leans up until he’s standing on his toes and places a hand on either side of Tsukishima’s face. With his thumbs, he smudges a bit of the red paint he used on his arms beneath Tsukishima’s eyes. 

“Ready?” He asks softly. Tsukishima nods, then leans down to press his lips against Hinata’s.

Even though the kiss only lasts a second, Ushijima can’t help feeling like he’s witnessing something incredibly intimate. It’s in the gentle way they hold each other, yet still with the same familiarity Ushijima had witnessed earlier. He wonders how many times they’ve kissed before, and if it was always as part of a ritual. 

After they part, Tsukishima is glowing. Actually, literally glowing – a soft light emanates from his skin, especially obvious where the plants are wrapped around it. Even more flowers have started to sprout, bigger than the first. He’s grimacing, though, as if he’s in pain.

He moves to stand at the edge of the circle, careful not to disturb the lines. Hinata starts pacing back and forth, chanting in some foreign language Ushijima doesn’t understand. The grimoire floats next to him, and occasionally he reads a few lines from it. 

The ritual seems to take an eternity. Tsukishima’s starts to glow brighter as it goes on and his grimace deepens with every minute that passes. Ushijima starts to feel the effect of the ritual as well, in the form of burning heat spreading out all the way from his head to his feet. It’s nothing like the warmth of Hinata’s earlier spell. Where that was soothing and comfortable, this feels like somebody is pressing hot coals against every part of his body. 

Finally, after what seems like hours, Hinata stops chanting. He gestures at Ushijima and all at once both the burning sensation and the weight of the curse lift away. Ushijima stumbles forward and Tsukishima does the same, stumbling a few steps before sinking down to his knees. He’s panting heavily, clutching at his stomach. 

“I’m sorry,” Hinata apologizes, kneeling in front of Tsukishima. “I’m sorry,” he says, pressing kisses all over Tsukishima’s face as he repeats it again and again. 

After a while, the glow fades from Tsukishima’s skin and he stops panting. He pushes Hinata away, irritated but still gentle. “I’m fine,” he snaps, standing and brushing some dirt from his clothes. “Your magic is just very unpleasant.”

“I’m really sorry,” Hinata says again. He stands up as well and bows to Ushijima. “I apologize. You must have felt it as well.”

“Not really,” Ushijima says. It’s a blatant lie, but he doesn’t want Hinata to feel guilty on his behalf. Not after he helped him by lifting his curse. 

Hinata glances up at him, clearly not believing a word he said. “I could give you a potion to make you feel better, if you want? It might take a while before it’s done, though.”

“There’s really no need,” Ushijima insists.

“Whatever you say.” Hinata is still looking at him strangely, but at least he lets the matter drop. “Then, are you ready to pay?”

Ushijima feels his face heat up in a blush. He’d almost forgotten about that. It would have been fine before, but now that he knows Hinata and Tsukishima are – _something_ , he doesn’t know if he’s allowed to come between that. “Is it really alright?”

“Oh, for the love of-” Tsukishima growls and grabs him by the collar of his shirt. “Don’t you dare chicken out now.” Before Ushijima can even get a word out, Tsukishima kisses him.

His lips are a little chapped, but much more gentle than Ushijima was expecting. He doesn’t push too much, waiting for Ushijima to make a move before he continues. Once Ushijima gets over his initial shock and starts reciprocating, Tsukishima captures his lower lip between both of his and sucks on it gently. Ushijima gasps, and Tsukishima takes advantage of it to lick into his mouth, just once, before pulling away. 

“There. That wasn’t so bad, was it?” he asks, unsuccessfully trying to hide the blush rising high on his cheeks by looking off to the side. 

“Um,” Ushijima says. That’s all he can get out before Hinata suddenly jumps up, wrapping his arms around Ushijima’s neck and clamping his knees against his sides to hold himself in place. 

“My turn,” he whispers, eyes glinting, and presses their mouths together. 

Unlike Tsukishima, Hinata is anything but gentle. His kiss feels similar to his magic – like a fire, burning through everything it encounters. He nips at Ushijima’s lips to get him to open his mouth, then wastes no time trying to find all the places inside that make Ushijima’s knees go weak. 

When he finally lets go, dropping back to the ground with a smile, Ushijima is breathless and lightheaded. 

“There you go,” Hinata says. He doesn’t sound at all like he just spent more than a minute kissing the life out of someone. “You’re free to leave now.”

Confused as he is, it takes a few moments before Ushijima manages to properly process his words. “Right,” he finally says, moving towards the door. “I’ll just – I’ll be going, then.”

Hinata hums, still smiling widely and bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Thank you for your patronage, Ushijima Wakatoshi.” Now that he knows what his full name can be used for, hearing it said so casually sends a shiver down Ushijima’s spine. Hinata’s smile widens even more, like he knows exactly what kind of effect he’s having. “Please come again,” he says sweetly. 

Ushijima is almost certain he will.

**Author's Note:**

> this au is my new child, and i'm definitely going to write more for it just try and stop me i dare you


End file.
